California Educator

June/July 2022

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Legislative Update By Julian Peeples T H E F O L L O W I N G A R E bills of interest to educators and public education that are making their way through the State Legislature. Community College pay parity bill held in committee again AB 1752 (Santiago): Part-time commu- nity college faculty are currently only compensated for their instructional time and are not paid for the hours they spend grading papers, planning coursework and other requirements. Some do not even earn minimum wage. This shortchanges students, harms the community college system and exploits instructors. CTA is a co-sponsor of AB 1752. Read our story at cta.org/ communitycollege_parttime_lawsuit. Status: Held under submission in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Protect Retirees from Retroactive Pension Cuts SB 868 (Cortese) and AB 1667 (Coo- per): A systemic inequality in the CalSTRS system has left some educa- tors who retired prior to 1999 with less equitable benefits than their peers. SB 868 will create a one-time permanent adjustment and stabilize the financial footing of these retirees, most of whom are women. AB 1667 will protect retired educators from retroactive pension cuts resulting from employers' reporting mistakes to CalSTRS by establishing a process that promotes accuracy and transparency. Both these bills are spon- sored by CTA. Status: SB 868 – Approved by the Senate 28-2. Awaiting hearing by the Assembly Public Employment and Retirement Committee. AB 1667 – Approved by the Assembly 75-0. Awaiting assignment to Senate committee. Creating a Pathway for Permanent Status for All Educators AB 2573 (McCarty): Current law pre- vents some educators from obtaining permanent status. This includes adult education teachers, career technical education teachers and teachers in school districts and county o•ices of education with less than 250 students. Some districts have acted in bad faith and kept these educators in probation- ary status year after year. This denies these educators basic professional rights, hurts students and exacer- bates the teacher shortage. This bill is co-sponsored by CTA. Status: Approved by the Assembly 47-18. Awaiting assignment to Senate committee. Take Action! Help us pass these and other important bills. To learn more and to send letters to your leg- islators urging them to support these bills, visit cta.org/takeaction. Although AB 1752 has been held, we are moving forward in e"orts to achieve parity for community college educators Streamlining Medi-Cal Billing for Student Health Support AB 2034 (O'Donnell): The pandemic has intensified the need for student health and behavioral health services. But due to problems with the Local Education Agency Medi-Cal Billing Option Program (LEA BOP), some dis- tricts have ceased participating, despite the enrollment of half of all California students in Medi-Cal. AB 2034 will streamline this process and expand access to critical services for students. Status: Approved by the Assembly 76-0. Awaiting assignment to Senate committee. 32 cta.org Advocacy

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